I don't know what the point of the OUtbox is. But I know messages that I have sent (and that have been received) sit in the Outbox for an unknown amount of time. I don't know that the message showing up in the Outbox means it hasn't been sent.

As far as the sigpic goes, that's a photobucket problem. Their site has become such an enormous cluter-f that I don't use them anymore.